NASCAR’s Clash at Bowman Gray Runs Wild With a New Cup Series Winner

Bowman Gray Stadium, Winston-Salem, NC — February 4, 2026

NASCAR’s exhibition race, “The Clash,” was snowed out. The winter storm that rolled through the middle of the East Coast region dumped almost a foot of the white stuff on Bowman Gray Stadium. The quarter-mile track that circles a grass field where the Winston-Salem State Rams play football features NASCAR Weekly Series races in four divisions.

Nicknamed “the Madhouse,” the flat asphalt track surface makes for tight bumper-to-bumper racing. After a Saturday night of modified, sportsman, street stock, and stadium stock racing, everyone but the event winners are mad about the way they were treated on the track. Making a pass for position at the Madhouse usually involves using the front bumper of your race car to nudge, beat, bang, and slam your way past the car in front of you. Tempers flare like the flames blasting out the exhaust pipes.

Goodyear, the official tire of NASCAR, makes racing slicks and rain tires for use in all three national series. They don’t make a snow tire. Originally The Clash was scheduled to run on Sunday, February 1st. It took three days to clean up the snow that completely covered the facility so the cars could race. Just as important they had to clean off the infield grass so the advertising logos would be visible to the fans in the grandstands and national television audience when racing began on Wednesday February 4th.

Setting the Starting Lineup

Originally the field was going to be determined by the results of heat races. The postponement scrapped those plans. Qualifying consisted of four minutes of open laps where drivers were timed and their fastest lap recorded as their qualifying speed. The top 20 drivers were locked into position.

Starting Positions for The Clash

The driver who finished the highest in the 2025 final Cup Series standings who did not earn one of the 20 spots on the grid was granted a provisional starting position. William Bowman took the 23rd and final spot.

The Last Chance Qualifier

Positions 21 and 22 were reserved for the top two finishers in the Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ). The 18 drivers who did not qualify were given one more opportunity to make the field.

Josh Berry(21) and Michael McDowell(71) started on the front row. McDowell jumped the start and drove away from the pack. However, when Riley Herbst spun on lap six, NASCAR penalized McDowell by sending him to the rear of the field for the restart. Berry was the fastest car on the track and the the Woods Brothers Mustang Dark Horse drove away from everyone over the 75 lap race to grab one of the LCQ positions.

Second place came down to a three-car battle between Corey LaJoie(6), AJ Allmendinger(16), and Austin Cindric(2). In true Madhouse fashion they beat on each other over the final 20 laps with Cindric taking the last position.

The Clash at Bowman Gray

With the full field set, 200 laps await the drivers. Only green flag laps count, if the yellow flag flies the laps under caution do not count.

Kyle Larson(5) led from the pole for the first 67 laps. William Byron(24), Chase Briscoe(19) and Ty Gibbs(54) then mixed it up over the next 33 laps until the mid-race break paused the action with Gibbs in the lead.

Cook Out Clash Mid-Race Standings

The Clash Final 100 Laps

During the mid-race break teams were allowed to work on their cars and make adjustments in the pit area outside of the track. Once again, Mother Nature interfered with the show. It began to rain. What happens when it rains and the air temperature is 36 degrees? The precipitation turned to sleet.

NASCAR radar showed a thin line of showers passing through the area and the cars were called back to the pits to put on the wet-weather tires. Jet dryers attacked the racing surface, blowing off the moisture and sleet pellets. As predicted the shower was brief and racing resumed on the damp asphalt.

Briscoe immediately passed Gibbs as everyone tiptoed into the first turn. Back in the pack Ryan Preece(60), Denny Hamlin(11), Kyle Busch(8),Larson spun on the wet track. The entire complexion of the race changed. The preferred lower groove completely went away. Running at the top of the track produced the most traction on the wet weather tires. Cautions waved every five to ten laps as slick conditions persisted. The lead swapped hands on almost every restart.

Byron, Preece, Carson Hocevar(77), and Shane Van Gisbergen(97) (SVG) all took a turn at the front of the pack.

A total of 300 laps had been run, 165 under the green flag and 135 laps were run under the caution. The extra laps created another situation. Crews did not completely fill the fuel tanks on the cars to minimize the weight and improve the handling. Cars began running out of gas. Under caution, on lap 165, NASCAR allowed the field to return to the pits for a can of Sunoco Racing Fuel to finish the remaining laps of the race.

On the restat Preece seemed to find the right handle. He led until Bubba Wallace(23) and Hocevar sparred sending the #77 car into a spin. With 20 laps to go they lined up for a restart with Preece and Byron on the front row. Ryan Blaney(12) and Briscoe in the second row.

A lap later, Larson slammed the the outside wall in a tangle with SVG, Gibbs, and Hocevar. The caution came out for the 17th time. Line em up and do it again, this time with Preece and Blaney on the front row. Time for the madness to intensify.

Preece took off into turn one, once again in first. Blaney and Byron battled for second allowing Preece to pull away. The top three ran that way to the finish as Preece ran away over the final 10 laps. Ryan Preece joined Jeff Gordon and Denny Hamlin as the only drivers to win the Clash before posting their first points paying race win on the Cup circuit.

Results of the 2026 Clash

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